Ex-Billionaire Batista Banned From Managing Companies in Brazil

After losing his $30 billion fortune in less than two years, Eike Batista was dealt another blow Tuesday when Brazil banned him from managing companies.

The five-year prohibition, which includes serving on boards of public companies, was handed down by securities regulator CVM for accounting irregularities. It follows a 1.4 million-real ($370,000) fine in March for breaching rules in four cases involving his companies.

Batista can appeal the ban, which is for breaking rules that impede shareholders from approving the financial results of companies in which they also serve as managers. He is also under investigation for alleged insider trading.

It’s the latest chapter in the saga of Brazil’s once-richest man, an investor-darling-turned-pariah who sold shares in six companies in a span of six years and lost his wealth even faster when his commodities and energy empire collapsed.

The downfall of Batista, a tycoon who once said he would be worth $100 billion before the end of the decade, has riveted spectators while angering shareholders and suppliers. After riding a wave of investor lust for commodities over the last decade, Batista tapped capital markets to develop a string of grandiose projects from offshore oil fields to the biggest port in the Americas.

His ambitious plan failed as costs ballooned and project deadlines were missed. With four of the six listed units forced into bankruptcy protection, the onetime speedboat racer has been selling assets to repay debt since late 2013 as creditors foreclosed on collateral.